Question 1

does this work with a Gigabyte ga-z87x-ud3h? the blue connector looks weird

Accepted Answer

Dear Chuck,

I purchased the Rosewill card reader from newegg a few weeks ago when i rebuilt my system.  The wierd blue connector is the USB 3 connector and works fine on my ASUS board.  However, I had never purchased nor seen a USB 3 board connector before.  you might need to make sure that your gigabyte board has a usb 3 board connector not just a usb 3 port.  I had an older ASUS board that claimed to have usb 3 but only had a port on the back, no board connector support.

Hope that is helpful.  Newegg asked me to help you if i could.
fellow customer,

Question 2

Can I plug it into a SATA slot on my motherboard?  How does it connect onto the motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Yes you can, in any Sata connection on the motherboard... BUT that would ONLY be for the E-Sata port in the the front.

The USB 2.0 ports & the Card Reader slots on the Hub are connected via the internal onboard USB 2.0 connections (usually black in color). Similarly the USB 3.0 ports on the Hub are powered via the internal onboard USB 3.0 (usually blue in color) on a motherboard.

Both OR Either of these options are dependent on the type of internal USB connections that your motherboard would have, so decide carefully.
Eg. My motherboard is an 'older' one and only has USB 2.0 internal onboard connections. My preference was for the external USB 2.0 ports, the Card Reader slots & the E-SATA port and hence the external USB 3.0 is not usable in MY current scenario. (But it is 'future safe' ... if and when i upgrade to a  'newer' motherboard which has onboard internal USB 3.0 connections :D)

Hope that clears things up for you to decide ... Goodluck!

Question 3

I have an AS Rock A780GXE/ 128 AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G ATX AMD Motherboard.  The processor is the AMD Phenom 8450 Toliman 2.1 Ghz Triple core processor.  Will this reader work with my motherboard and processor?

Accepted Answer

I would recommend a different card reader you need an adapter for this card reader it uses different USB 3 headers and it is required for both USB 3 and the card reader function both have to be plugged in properly as I found out on my board I had the right ports but not enough I bought an expansion I needed anyway and I had reconfigure it a bunch of times until I got all my components working it is that or buy a different board. And as a general rule processor doesn't matter with these things it is more an issue of board os

Question 4

What type of connector is required?  How do I connect to the motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Hi, Michael.

As I recall, there are actually three connectors that go to the motherboard.  One is a regular 9-pin USB 1.1/2.0 connector.  It's actually for a header of 9 pins, though the connector might have 10 holes.  For the USB 3.0 connector, you'll need a 19-pin header.  Same deal.  The connector may have 20 holes, but the header only has 19.  Added to that, there's the eSATA connector on the front of the card reader that needs a SATA connector on the motherboard for it.  I believe it can be SATA, SATA-II, or SATA-III, but the connector on the front won't give you more than what its cable is connected to.  Hope this helps.  It's a peach of a card reader/USB hub combo.  It works very well for me.

Tom

Question 5

Are there drivers required for this product? If so, where do I download it?

It seems I cannot find it on their own website.

Accepted Answer

No additional drivers required assuming you have the right headers on your motherboard to plug it in and the motherboard has whatever drivers it needs to operate the headers.  I used one on a motherboard that did not have a USB 3 header so I installed a USB 3 addin card and used the addin card drivers.

Question 6

Does this reader support high capacity SD cards like 32 and 64 gb ?

Accepted Answer

yes this card reader supports hd cards.  it has no limitations on the type of card you have to put into it.  have been using it for about 4 months now and have used all typs of standard and hd cards and it works beautifuly.  for example I have a 32gb hd micro sd card for my tablet and I can plug it in and it works.  get transfer rates of up to 20mb/s but that dependant on the card itself...very happy

Question 7

windows 8.1 comperteble?

Accepted Answer

not sure but make sure you have usb 2.0 and 3.0 headers on your motherboard card reader won't work without both. usb 2.0 ports are temperamental esata as well. decent for card reader and usb 3.0 though. i'm generally satisfied.

Question 8

Is there any way to remove cables that you aren't using?

Accepted Answer

I have all the cables connected and all the memory slots and USB ports are working just fine.
1. You must have the power cable connect it so the device can work, period. (Important: do not forget this step)
2. To have the USB 3.0 working, you must have an empty USB3.0 connector on your motherboard to connect the USB3.0 cable. If not, then you have to get a USB 3.0 PCI card or a PCI card Express 3.0 and install it to one of the empty slot on your motherboard. Check your motherboard for connectors required (this is how I got mine working)
3. To have the USB 2.0 working, you must connect it to one of empty USB 2.0 connector on your motherboard and ...
4. To have the eSATA card slot working you must have the SATA cable connect it to the mother board.
I believe that all the cable are essentials so the device can work properly. I hope that this helps.

Question 9

two port 3.0 ? - is that a converter to be compatible with 3.0?

Accepted Answer

NO! You need an "Internal" USB 3.0 header on your mother board, or daughter card. my MB did not have USB 3.0 so I purchased VANTEC 4-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCIe Host Card w/ Internal 20-Pin Connector Model UGT-PC345 daughter card to give me the right connection and upgrade the system to 3.0. works great, mainly I use it for high capacity thumb drive, it writes very fast.
Keep in mind the "Internal" USB 3.0 is very different from usb 2.0/1.0 connections. it is 1 connector that supports 2 channels. 
see the 4th picture there you can see the blue 20 pin internal connector that is USB 3.0, and the black 10 pin connector that is USB 2.0. Keep in mind this is a new spec, and most motherboards do not have it. rather they have a standard external USB connector in the back that is 3.0. if that's your layout this will not work for you. you need to buy an add-on card, or get a reader that has a pass through connector. this is where it exits the back of the tower, and then plugs in to a standard external USB port in the back. I don't like those as I am always afraid that the USB port will get damaged. I prefer an internal connection.

Question 10

how do I connect this device to a dell dimension 8100? pci slots?

Accepted Answer

You don't. this doesn't hook to a PCI slot.
It has USB 2.0 & 3.0 internal header connector, as well as the sata.
My mobo did not have the right type of usb3.0 header so I purchased VANTEC 4-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCIe Host Card w/ Internal 20-Pin Connector Model UGT-PC345

I chose that card as it had the best reviews and the internal connector required.
good luck

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